Ending all speculation about the SAD candidate from Bathinda in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal declared that sitting MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal would again contest on the SAD ticket.

Ending all speculation about the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate from Bathinda in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Wednesday declared that sitting MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal would again contest on the SAD ticket.

With the polls dominating his speech, Badal made this announcement during sangat darshan programmes held in several villages of the parliamentary constituency.

"Harsimrat will contest from Bathinda. You have to vote for her. Whether it is me or Sukhbir (Badal), we all are here to help you in every possible way. There is a Narendra Modi wave in the country and the Congress whitewash is imminent in the coming elections," the CM told the villagers, who had come for the sangat darshan in the hope of getting their grievances redressed.

Taking a dig at the Congress, he said the party had co candidate in Bathinda. "The Congress has no clue about their candidate. But no matter whom they field, it would not affect us."

The CM told the gathering that the Congress had never returned to power in any state where it had lost twice. He tried to convince the people that the NDA government would prove beneficial for Punjab.

Vote factor

When the panchayat of Gill Kalan village expressed its inability to disconnect illegal water supply connections of some families in the village, the CM quipped, "I can understand. You people also have to ask for votes. I think my village (Badal) has the highest number of dunghills, but even I find it difficult to ask people to remove them."